Application submissions are one of commercial underwriting's biggest time sinks. Most quotes are a jumble of formats and paperwork that keep underwriters from getting to more important tasks like risk analysis.
Automating new-business submissions can help underwriters save valuable time. With intelligent scanning and rules-based engines, cloud-based technologies can convert quote data into standard formats. There's no rerouting, re-reviewing and rekeying. Instead of a burden, new-business submissions can become a competitive advantage.
There's no question that while the cloud has evolved rapidly, carriers maintain real concerns regarding the technology's performance, data integrity and reliability. Here are four steps to evaluate the cloud's potential for an organization's new-business submissions:
1. Understand the company's current new-business process and the associated time and expense. Map out the firm's current underwriting processes. Maps are powerful visual tools for tracing intake forms' paths through the underwriting process. More importantly, they can highlight an organization's strengths and weaknesses. Does the process allow the opportunity to differentiate among the agents who submit new business? Can it identify the high performers? Does the organization quote all new business or is there a filter for weeding out risks that are beyond the parameters of the company's risk appetite? Mapping provides an invaluable birds'-eye view of the new-business process.
2. Determine value opportunities for the organization. It is critical for underwriters to be able to spot their best prospects. Can the company identify the new-business submissions that align with the risk appetite and geography it wants to underwrite?
Cloud-based processing's automated rules can boost the hit ratio. Using extraction and business rules to identify and prioritize submissions, for example, an organization can route the best submissions more quickly to underwriters.
Automated rules also save agents valuable time. Instead of requiring them to manually re-enter data from their agency management system into a different form, intelligent process automation lets agents simply upload the forms they already use, then extract data directly from them.
3. Identify the business benefits. Don't be wowed by technology. Make sure the technology works for the organization. Tally the benefits to be realized. For example, what financial and competitive advantages will the company gain by providing timely service to its best agents? What's the projected yield ratio of business quoted versus underwritten? Calculate the potential reductions in general expenses the organization could potentially reap from more efficient processes.
In addition to enabling more underwriting and less processing, cloud-based intake propels an organization toward data-driven results. Decision-making becomes more objective when based on the analytics that digitized processes can generate. Analytics speak for themselves, so they can help ease the traditional tensions among underwriting, agents and sales distribution.
4. Build a business case and run a pilot. Engage a partner who can assist the organization with both steps. Build a business case that identifies pain points and opportunities for the organization and also establishes benchmarks for future benefits. Next, run a proof of concept. Cloud-based services can launch and be evaluated within short time periods. The pilots provide real-world demonstrations of how automation can impact the submission process, integrate with downstream software, and fit into employees' work processes.
Technology is constantly changing and insurers are faced with the pressure to operate faster and more efficiently. Fortunately, there are many options available to help them find the solutions that will improve their processes and provide the data they need.
Dan Pitcher, CPCU, is a property and casualty transformation leader with Cognizant, responsible for bringing new operations solutions to clients and has almost 30 years of experience in the P&C industry. He can be reached at Daniel.pitcher@cognizant.com.
Ajoy Kumar Palanivelu is an experienced insurance business architect and venture solution leader for Cognizant's proprietary OptimaWrite solution suite. He has successfully led several consulting and transformational programs in the insurance P&C space with a focus on commercial underwriting and claims transformation programs.
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